Complicated!

linkin

My Brother died a couple of months ago and left no will and had about £4,000 in his post office account. I paid for the funeral and hoped to claim this back at a later date when the money was sorted. My brother did say the money for the funeral was in his post office account.
He had a friend who said my brother had asked her to sort his stuff and finances out when he died, which I did as I did not want to seem to be taking over as I hadn't seen him for some time.
She has now been in contact to see how much she owes for the drinks after the funeral! I have been in contact and she now wants reciepts(which I have) before she will payfor the funeral. I know my brother left her as a beneficiary with the credit union, but does this mean she has the right to claim everything? She hasn't gone through probate and has told the post office she is the next of kin, this is not true as my father is next of kin.

Sorry to ramble not sure if this makes much sense

g6jns_2

linkin wrote: »

My Brother died a couple of months ago and left no will and had about £4,000 in his post office account. I paid for the funeral and hoped to claim this back at a later date when the money was sorted. My brother did say the money for the funeral was in his post office account.
He had a friend who said my brother had asked her to sort his stuff and finances out when he died, which I did as I did not want to seem to be taking over as I hadn't seen him for some time.
She has now been in contact to see how much she owes for the drinks after the funeral! I have been in contact and she now wants reciepts(which I have) before she will payfor the funeral. I know my brother left her as a beneficiary with the credit union, but does this mean she has the right to claim everything? She hasn't gone through probate and has told the post office she is the next of kin, this is not true as my father is next of kin.

Sorry to ramble not sure if this makes much sense

If the "friend" has lied to the Post Office that is fraud. In fact it sounds as she is trying it on in a big way. You might want to alert the Post Office to this. Usually a close relative needs to apply for Letters of Administration so that they can administer the estate. As a non relative she has no entitlement whatsoever to any of the estate.

linkin

g6jns wrote: »

If the "friend" has lied to the Post Office that is fraud. In fact it sounds as she is trying it on in a big way. You might want to alert the Post Office to this. Usually a close relative needs to apply for Letters of Administration so that they can administer the estate. As a non relative she has no entitlement whatsoever to any of the estate.

This is what I thought, but the post office are not interested. They said she signed an indemnity form and I will need to go through the small claims court to claim it back!
I was also told by the post office you needed a letter of administration, but now they are saying they gave it to her because it was under £10, 000

Crabapple

If she was nominated beneficiary for a policy then she is entitled to that money.

But that is it. The Post Office money was nothing to do with her, nor is anything else. The Post Office will not worry as long as they have a form signed, it covers them. All financial institutions have a limit under which they will rely on an indemnity rather than seeing a Grant.

I would write to her and insist that she returns the money and see what happens from there. It should certainly be used towards the funeral for starters.

If there are any other monies to be claimed then your father should obtain a Grant and collect them himself.

g6jns_2

linkin wrote: »

This is what I thought, but the post office are not interested. They said she signed an indemnity form and I will need to go through the small claims court to claim it back!
I was also told by the post office you needed a letter of administration, but now they are saying they gave it to her because it was under £10, 000

The Post Office are trying it on. Part of the problem is that you need to go further up the chain of command. I would suggest a formal written complaint with a deadline of fourteen days for compliance. This should say that as soon as probate is granted redress will be sought from them. That way they have to pay up and they can have the hassle of reclaiming it from her.

linkin

g6jns wrote: »

The Post Office are trying it on. Part of the problem is that you need to go further up the chain of command. I would suggest a formal written complaint with a deadline of fourteen days for compliance. This should say that as soon as probate is granted redress will be sought from them. That way they have to pay up and they can have the hassle of reclaiming it from her.

Thank you this sounds like the best course of action.
I only wanted the money back for the funeral and my dad said he didn't want the money, but now she has been trying to get out of paying funeral cost as well, I will take it further.

keep_flyin

If your brother died with no will, then there are no beneficiaries and the estate will need to be dealt with under administration. As you have parent/s still alive, they are the beneficiaries. The friend has no rights over the money with the post office at all. I would make an official complaint to the Post Office and send a letter before court action to the friend.

It is administration not probate as there is no will.

g6jns_2

linkin wrote: »

Thank you this sounds like the best course of action.
I only wanted the money back for the funeral and my dad said he didn't want the money, but now she has been trying to get out of paying funeral cost as well, I will take it further.

They may not want to know but you might consider reporting her to the police for the theft.

pmlindyloo

My personal opinion is that you will need to take her to the small claims court to recover the money.

I also believe that the PO will not be interested as they have a signed indemnity form. However, you could write and 'complain' which would alert them to the fact that there has been a fraudulent claim. You will probably need a copy of the indemnity form to see if she has committed fraud. When I signed it said something like' there are no other people who are entitled to this money.'

To have been able to get the money from the post office she would have, at the very least, shown the death certificate and ID.

How did she get the death certificate? Was she present when your brother died? You said you were happy for her to sort out things so it seems that she may not have acted fraudulently.

But keeping the money is illegal as she is not entitled to it.

Before pursuing the small claims court route you need to write to her pointing out the laws of intestacy and the money should be handed over to your parents. (They can then reinburse you for the funeral expenses.)

If she refuses to do this then you need to write a letter before action saying that you (or actually your parents) will be taking her to the small claims court.

BobQ

g6jns wrote: »

The Post Office are trying it on. Part of the problem is that you need to go further up the chain of command. I would suggest a formal written complaint with a deadline of fourteen days for compliance. This should say that as soon as probate is granted redress will be sought from them. That way they have to pay up and they can have the hassle of reclaiming it from her.

The OP's dispute is not with the Post Office directly. He (or his father as next of kin) should apply for Letters of Administration. (There is no Probate without a Will)

Once a Grant is issued, the Post Office must pay the money in the account to the appointed Administrator. It is up to the PO to claim the money from the friend who signed the indemnity.

I agree that pointing this out to the PO might make them re-think their position but the father/brother needs to apply for the Grant of Administration if they will not comply with his request.

BobQ

pmlindyloo wrote: »

My personal opinion is that you will need to take her to the small claims court to recover the money.

I also believe that the PO will not be interested as they have a signed indemnity form. However, you could write and 'complain' which would alert them to the fact that there has been a fraudulent claim. You will probably need a copy of the indemnity form to see if she has committed fraud. When I signed it said something like' there are no other people who are entitled to this money.'

To have been able to get the money from the post office she would have, at the very least, shown the death certificate and ID.

How did she get the death certificate? Was she present when your brother died? You said you were happy for her to sort out things so it seems that she may not have acted fraudulently.

But keeping the money is illegal as she is not entitled to it.

Before pursuing the small claims court route you need to write to her pointing out the laws of intestacy and the money should be handed over to your parents. (They can then reinburse you for the funeral expenses.)

If she refuses to do this then you need to write a letter before action saying that you (or actually your parents) will be taking her to the small claims court.

This is missing the point. If you sign an Indemnity you make a legal declaration that (a) you are the person entitled to the money and (b) if you make a false declaration you will re-imburse the post office.

The lady friend has falsely declared (a) so is obliged to refund the post office iaw the indemnity. It is not up to the OP to use the small claims court.